A New Business Deal
by Nigel Yearning
Summary: Two Wastelanders in New York State stumble upon an abandoned lab that makes Purified Water, with the original owner dead the wastelanders simply took over. Oneshot.


I kicked down the door of an abandoned store as my friend Derek comes in with a Hunting Rifle, it isn't the first time a couple of Wastelanders come walking into this place. It appears to be barricaded, someone was here alright. "Keep an eye out Derek," I said, "I'm going to go check the back."

"Sure thing dude," said Derek as he closes the front door and locks it.

I saw shelves full of supplies, stocks of Purified Water were lining the wall. It appears to be a bottled watering operation going on here, that's what I assume. I looked around and found Assault Rifles at the back of the store, some handguns, hunting rifles, sniper rifles, grenades, molotovs, tin cans, and some hot plates. There was a door at the back and I opened it, which leads to a hall and a couple of more doors.

Chances are, one of them is going to hold a surprise. I opened the first door and notice it's only a bathroom, an empty bathroom. I turned the knob on the sink and no water came out, I left the bathroom and opened the second door...

"Jesus," I spat as I placed my shirt over my nose, "Hey Derek, I think we found dinner."

"What's on the menu?" he called out from the next room.

"Radroaches, lots of them." I said as I got out my Hunting Rifle.

Several Radroaches were all over this large room, there was a dead body lying on the floor. Partially rotted and eaten by Radroaches, I simply aimed my rifle at the Radroaches and began firing at will.

They don't seem to notice me as I was killing them, popped one's brain out after another and managed to kill them all. Once all the Radroaches were taken care of, I examined the dead body. Looks like a male and he appears to have suffocated to death, must be Carbon Monoxide poisoning. "Hey Derek," I called out to him, "There's a dead body in here and it looks like he died from Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, we better ventilate this area right away."

"Any clue on how long he's been dead?" he asked.

"Umm, about a week at best." I said, "I'm going to dump the body outside, in the dumpster before putting him to the torch."

So I laid out a bed sheet I found nearby and put on some gloves, the smell's horrible and it isn't that pretty. I managed to pick up the body and got it on the blanket before I grab the blanket and dragged the corpse out into the main room of the store, Derek looked on as he opened the door for me to drag the body outside. I placed it outside next to the building and left it there for now, see if the Vicious Dogs will do the rest during the night.

I went back inside and Derek once again shuts the door and barricades it, I went back where I found the body and gathered up all the Radroach bodies for cooking. Looking around the room, it's clear on how the Radroaches got in. A small hole on the back wall, they must have dug their way through after smelling the body.

After finding some plywood, I sealed up the hole. But that is a temporary solution, then I noticed something else that caught my eye. A Water Chip, two of them to be exact. Usually they are found in those Vaults but they are hard to find these days, this guy must have made a living making Purified Water. There was a safe on the side of the wall and it was wide open, I looked inside and noticed it's full of caps.

"Hey, I found some caps," I called out to Derek, "Loads of them."

"Cool," he called out nonchalantly.

"And a Water Chip," I added.

"Really?" he asked, sounding interested.

"Two of them, we might earn a living selling Purified Water."

"What about the Raiders?"

"There isn't any raiders around this area."

Derek came walking in and saw the water chip for himself, "Okay, you think we should contact Vault 45 to reveal our discovery?" he asked.

"I see a Ham Radio sitting on that table," I said, pointing to a functioning Ham Radio set.

"Huh, so if we made contact with Vault 45 what would happen next?" asked Derek.

"Probably nothing, they can't risk the man power due to the danger out here." I said.

"So what do we do?"

"Sit here, and wait for something to come along."

After searching the place for other things of interest, we managed to find a few books in good condition. Not to mention a few Mechanic Books, and there were also old Survival books. 200 years of age doesn't seem to phase these books one bit. Derek picked up a book and sat back as I began to roast some Radroach meat on the stove, the meat taste pretty good assuming that it doesn't have any diseases.

Once I'm done with dinner, I began to barricade the front door with old rusted out shopping carts. A Nuka Cola machine also provided even more sturdy support, I checked inside and I managed to grab a Nuka Cola. It wasn't ice cold but it would have to do, surely it's great to have something refreshing to wash down the Radroach meat. This would be perfect for making Molotov Cocktails, if there is anything around that we could use as fuel for the fires.

"You heard that a couple of Vault Dwellers from Vault 45 saved a bunch of Wastelanders from the Enclave?" asked Derek without looking up at me as I sat back down in my chair.

"Yeah, I heard." I replied.

"They left the vault in order to find this even more massive vault in the Rocky Mountains," said Derek, "You ever heard of anything out west?"

"No, but I assume that the Core Region isn't that bad compared to the Capital Wasteland." I said, "New York seems to be ignored by everyone for some reason, not much going on here after the war ended the world."

"Maybe our buddies down at Florida and Alabama might help out with a few things, I heard that the old railroad that once connected the entire US of A in the 19th century is being rebuilt."

"Oh good, maybe the economy will recover. Prices are rising for the lack of rationing, I haven't seen a single Brahmin in weeks."

"Tell me about it."

Not very much, but of course we're settling down and begin our watering business. Finally I'm making descent money for once, might buy myself some new boots.


End file.
